Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Larry's Memo To Bush

Larry Sabato, who is as close to a non-partisan political writer as there is, has posted what he calls an "Urgent MEMO to THE PRESIDENT." Sabato's interest is, apparently, pro bono; he seems to believe that some sanity in the White House would be good for the country. He offers five pieces of advice, but he saves the best for last:

Admit One Big Error and Correct It [...] the Medicare drug benefit. Do you know how many Republican Senators and Representatives have said privately that it is the worst, most regrettable vote of their careers? The drug benefit will add trillions to the national debt over time; because of its complexity, it is overwhelmingly disliked by the very seniors it is designed to help; and like most government programs, it is guaranteed to become massively more unwieldy and costly in the future, as new provisions and baubles are added on. Eliminate it, or at the very least, cut it way back by limiting it to the poor. Your gigantic, additional Medicare entitlement underlines the Bush Administration's reckless overspending. The ocean of red ink you have created will be an enormous black, er, red mark on your legacy in the history books. Why not do something about it while you still can? All at once, you can please your party, make better policy, and change your image by confessing a big goof. People will be amazed at your display of humility. Sometimes, the best politics is counterintuitive.

Even though Sabato betrays his left-leaning with his first piece of advice, which goes along with with the democrat policy of denial of the truth of Bush's Iraq policy, the rest of the piece is quite instructive. Don't miss this one!